Identifying the Poop Dance

So, Younger Boy indeed has been trained to go potty on the toilet. And the next step, training to go poop on the toilet, has indeed been more challenging.

True Life Poop Experience Story (Detailed – queasy stomachs should not enter)
I work from home, for my company down in Southern California. I do Internet stuff, thus still attend my weekly Internet meetings via the phone. Usually during Internet meetings (or any meetings) Younger Boy is sent into his room to play. During last week’s meeting I glance over into the room and see him, assuming the position of slightly bent leg, leaning against the bunk bed. The phone is on mute:

Me: What are you doing?
YB: I don’t know.
Me: Do you have to go potty?
YB: No
Me: Do you have to go poo poo?
YB: No

I walk in there and am met with the wonderful smell of fresh 3-year-old poop.

Since I have the phone in hand, I am unable to scoop him up and run him to the bathroom. Instead I have to rush him to the bathroom.

Little droplets of brown poo leak every other step onto my poor, poor carpet on the way to the bathroom. (From this alone I know it's going to be a winner.) We get there and I pull down his Thomas underwear to meet the sight of what looked like freshly created liquid and mushy mud.

Spectacular! *My most favorite sarcastic expression for displeasure*

He steps out of it and automatically gets handed the soiled underwear.

Me: Where do you go poo poo?
YB: I don’t know
Me: In the toilet. You go poo poo in the toilet. Put it in the toilet.

He really doesn’t want to touch the underwear. So my free hand and both of his hands have to work together to dump it in there. He then gets placed on the toilet in the chance there’s more to come. There isn’t, but the wonderful liquid and mush dribbled down on the step stool, the side of the toilet and smears onto the seat as he scoots off. He also takes this opportunity to start flicking and waving his hands around to get the liquid off. This spatters on the shower doors and the floor, yet amazingly none on me.

I am on the phone this entire time, listening to the meeting.

He then is placed into the shower. He dislikes showers, but is slowly learning that peeing and pooping on your self results in a shower.

Of course, this is the moment that I am asked, “Crys, do you have anything to report?”

‘Beep’ goes the mute button. “Why yes, I do. The Virtual Dogs blah, blah, blah.” I give my report from the hallway, as I glance down at the shower to Younger Boy motioning with my hands that he ought to be cleaning himself off. He does, at least, copy my motions and manages to get most of it off.

After I’m finished with my report, ‘Beep’ the mute button gets put back on and I resume in the cleaning up of the bathroom. [I'd like to take a moment to pay tribute and be thankful for Clorox wipes.] And then bust out the soap. Since he’s in the process of getting cleaned, he gets his hair shampooed also. The meeting finishes up just as I’m drying him off and handing him new, clean underwear.

I’ve just successfully attended a meeting and cleaned up a poopy 3 year old.
The End

Since then, I have become quite more observant, no matter what I’m doing, of his body language. Any pointed legs, shifted body positions while standing or sudden standing up accompanied by hand going to hold at butt results in this exact conversation.

Me: What are you doing?
YB: I don’t know.
Me: Then why don’t you try going poo poo on the toilet.
YB: *Runs off to the bathroom*

This has been 90% successful. The other 10% has resulted in not having to go. He hasn’t (knock on wood) had a repeat following that Thursday of pooping in his underwear. He has had smears as he takes his underwear off to get on the toilet. I’ll take the smears please.

My mission – Identify the poop dance and try to help him identify that the poop dance means he has to go poop. Hopefully, he’ll put it all together and run by me saying “I have to go poo poo!” and I won’t have to be quite as attentive to if he is dancing his Poop Dance.